STYLE NEWS

5 MORE AW17 TRENDS

By Style Feed Staff, 13 March 2017

We’ve already taken our fine-toothed fashion comb to the AW17 menswear shows in Paris, London, New York and Milan. But now, with two-and-a-bit months of non-stop catwalk action finally complete, we’re having one last broad look at the whole sartorial shebang (menswear, womenswear and everything in between) and picking out five further trends to get ahead of for next season.

Muse of the moment Luka Sabbat lead the charge, getting papped outside the Dior Homme Paris show back in January pairing a Heron Preston high-necked T-shirt and Nike Air Force 1s with a classic mac in a fine blue check. Then Gosha Rubchinskiy, Lanvin and Tim Coppens all got on board with their AW17 presentations. Fendi mixed up super-slick suit trousers, vintage-style sportswear and lush, furry outerwear for a sophisticated take on terrace chic, while MSGM fused full 90s jersey tracksuits with everything from tweed two-pieces to houndstooth capes for a serious trad-lad mashup.

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True retro

The cyclical nature of fashion has seen every era comprehensively raided for sartorial inspiration twice over, but one decade that remains a constant menswear mainstay is the 70s. For the coming winter, designers centred their attention on recreating the real thing rather than a contemporary update. With that in mind, the AW17 shows saw a big focus on texture, with tweed, cord, suede and leather featuring heavily on everything from tailoring to cosy casuals.

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Prada combined retro textures with bold prints, while Coach and Missoni were among the others following suit, displaying a mix of baggier trews and trim upper halves with deep hues, heritage checks and retro cuts.

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Dad trainers

Brace yourself because the impossible has happened – your dad is now the most stylish member of the family. First came his favourite camping fleeces, then questionable amounts of corduroy, closely followed by rolled-up jeans and retro knits. Now the most controversial element of your father’s wardrobe has managed to infiltrate fashion – his kicks. So wrong they’re right, so bad they’re good, chunky running trainers are set to be next winter’s biggest footwear trend.

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Don’t believe us? Take Balenciaga’s, Martin Rose’s or Kanye West’s word for it, then. Bulky soled sneakers worn with smarter trousers were seen across the board at the AW17 shows, but no shoe was more hyped than West’s Yeezy Runner. Whether you wait for Ye’s release, or raid your old man's wardrobe, any dadcore kit is incomplete without a pair of a multi-coloured kicks, or clean white stompers.

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Suits you

Reduced to either monotonous daily work uniform or occasional wedding wear, suiting has struggled to evolve at the same pace as casualwear in recent years. But for AW17, new life is breathed into tailoring, with formal ‘fits offering more of an experimental edge than ever before. Albeit a subtle shift, designers have presented the workwear staples in wider silhouettes, combined them with timeless outerwear, and paired them with classic 90s-inspired dad trainers.

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Demna Gvasalia of Vetements took the theme and ran with it at PFW, while Balenciaga’s boxy suiting returned for another season. Even streetwear stalwart Gosha Rubchinskiy touched upon office attire in his latest line.

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Next-level knits

We’ll always have a place in our hearts for the hoodie, but it’s about time menswear embraced a new autumn/winter staple – so, next up, it’s interesting knitwear. In London, Milan, Paris and New York, designers ditched comfy sportswear styles in favour of oversized, reworked woollies. While powerhouses like Prada and Raf Simons played with slogans and imagery in their novelty knits, more sophisticated needlework was seen in JW Anderson’s mens and womenswear collections (above).

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The Scottish designer deconstructed, reconstructed and remastered his knitwear to produce jumpers and cardigans patched with pockets, contrasting patterns and cuffed sleeves. Over in New York, Raf Simon’s noteworthy knits included louder statement pieces and more low-key, techy designs that’ll no doubt garner cult status. Better get your nana on it now because, come next winter, a standard cable knit is not going to cut it.